Bush & Company

In the biggest counter inaugural demonstration since the swearing-in of Richard M. Nixon, in 1973, a ubiquitous coalition of thousands rallied against the second presidential inauguration of George W. Bush.

“We had to wait about an hour before we actually got through security,” said Grace Burson, an environmental activist from New Haven, Conn. “Around 9 a.m. police came down the line telling us we couldn’t bring in backpacks, big bags, fruit, or eggs… We occupied the front row along the barrier, then we just stood there for 5 hours.”

Denied a heated tent by government officials, citing security concerns, scores of protestors endured frigid temperatures on a freshly fallen blanket of snow in John Marshall Park, where they had been granted a judge’s permit. Many more were blocked from entering the park by security checkpoints throughout the city. International ANSWER, fueled by antiwar sentiment, sponsored the gathering.

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Among the speakers were former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; ANSWER National Coordinator Brian Becker and Student Coordinator Peta Lindsay; Washington Report on Mid East Affairs Coordinator Sara Powell; Global Women’s Strike leader Phoebe Jones; President of the National Black Farmers Association John Boyd; Organizer of the Commission to Free the Cuban 5 Nathalie Hrizi; father of slain U.S. contract worker Nicholas Berg, Michael Berg and Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA.

Other groups included Turn Your Back on Bush, which infiltrated crowds of cheering Republicans along the 1.7 mile parade route and turned their backs as the presidential motorcade drove by; Code Pink that held a funeral procession with a church band and flag draped coffins; the D.C. Anti-War Network that held a rally in Columbia Heights, a march to McPherson Square and a civil disobedience die-in outside Lafayette Square and activists with Re-Defeat Bush who contend that Republicans engaged in fraud to win the 2004 election. Additionally, supporters of Not One Damn Dime Day organized a national, all-day boycott of all forms of consumer spending. The following day, Rosie O’Donnell headlined a United for Peace and Justice event at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ along with the group’s co-founder, Rev. Graylan Hagler.

While in 2001, demonstrators were permitted on sidewalks along the inaugural parade route, protesters and the general public were blocked access to vast portions of Pennsylvania Avenue reserved solely for ticketed guests approved by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the National Park Service satisfied its obligation in allowing demonstrators access to several locations along Pennsylvania Avenue, including John Marshall Park, with space for up to 10,000 protesters.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney for A.N.S.W.E.R., complained that most of the areas reserved for protesters were behind bleachers or set off hundreds of feet from the street. Additionally, poles for posters and banners were forbidden, as well as papier-mache effigies.

“We could see the sharp shooters on top of two buildings at either end of the block,” said Burson. “The rows of police and soldiers right in front of us were never that thick—we could see between them, even when the Marines were all lined up, but further down the block there were practically wall-to-wall police.”

Earlier polls indicated national disapproval regarding the price tag for the inaugural frivolities, due to the Iraq war and the aftereffects of the South Asian tsunami. Yet the festivities continued as planned with 10 balls, including the highly touted Black Tie and Boots gala. All in all the inaugural celebration cost $40 million, with $12 million for security paid by D.C. taxpayers. Donors, who were limited to $250,000, included Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank; Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement retailer; and Orange, California-based Ameriquest Mortgage Co. which managed to give $1 million through four subsidiaries.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist administered the oath of office, as Bush's relatives, members of Congress and spectators looked on from specially constructed stands outside the Capitol. The President’s speech, which sounded messianic to some, focused on U.S. foreign policy.

“Around noon we were unpleasantly surprised by W’s voice suddenly booming out of a P.A. system,” said Burson. “It turned out that we were going to be treated to an amplified version of the inaugural speech. It was unbelievably platitudinous and false, an effect only amplified by W’s delivery—he sounds like he doesn’t even believe what he’s saying and is just reading off a script.”

Security was intense but not intense enough to keep out a small group of protestors who, although denied entry to the ceremony, managed to slip in, near the podium. They chanted, “stop the war,” before being pelted with snowballs by Bush supporters and led away by police.

“The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands,” said Bush, in his remarks. “The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world,” he added—the chorus of liberty, freedom and the overthrow of tyranny the theme of his anthem.

The commander in chief did not mention Iraq.

Following the ceremony, the President’s motorcade began its slow journey to the reviewing stand but sped up noticeably when passing John Marshall Park and a medley of boos and slogans.

“When I felt like completely abandoning the pretense of secrecy about my presence as a protester, I did,” said Burson. “That was when the limos containing Trent Lott, Bill Frist and Tom DeLay rolled by. To see the expressions of bemused distress on their faces as they attempted to keep waving was definitely worth the trip.”

President Bush begins his second term with a job approval rating hovering around 50 percent and goals which include private accounts for Social Security, an overhaul of the U.S. tax code and possibly, as many around the world fear, more preemptive strikes in nations that don’t share the Administration’s values.

In a new BBC World Service Poll of 22,000 people living in Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia, and Europe, 58 percent of those surveyed said they believed Bush will have a negative impact on global peace and security.

Woman and Earth: January, 2005